One of our most popular Coffee and a Concept feature cars was the Chrysler Turbine, which continues to be one of our most-visited articles almost two years after it was written. The car, which is rarely seen in public, and for which only four working models are known, will be a feature of the Chrysler booth at the 2015 Canadian International AutoShow starting today. The Turbine will be shown as part of a larger collection of eighteen classics called the Art and the Automobile exhibit at the Canadian show.
“The Chrysler Turbine program began in 1954 – in the supersonic jet airplane age -and lasted until 1981,” said Brandt Rosenbusch, Manager of Historical Vehicles – FCA US. “Like today, the company was exploring alternative propulsion solutions and to prove the engine’s flexibility, even ran them on perfume and alcohol – aside from the ‘standard’ JP-4 Jet Fuel. We have not shipped the car to Canada in the 25 years I have been here.”
CIAS General Manager, Jason Campbell said: “The exhibit traces the artistic progression of vehicle design through the decades and the Chrysler Turbine Car is a great example of the transition period from the chrome-plated, aircraft- and rocket-influenced designs of the ’50s to the more pure forms of the ’60s, as it includes elements of both. Besides which, it is a very pretty and historically important car.”
This is a rare chance to see the car, which was produced in a limited quantity of fifty as a prototype test run and of those, all but nine were scrapped and five of those nine were de-activated before being sold. All reside in museums except two, one owned by a private collector in Indiana and another owned by Jay Leno. The one on display in Toronto, Chrysler says, is their model which is a running prototype whose turbine engine still works.
